From the Editor: An Outsider's Perceptions The Gaze of Animal Life In the News Conducting Dog Feeding Trials on the Antarctic Huskies: a behind the scenes look at how it got done! Further Experiments on the nutrition of sledge dogs How Use of the name Inuit became official An Examination of Traditional Knowledge: the case of the Inuit Sled Dog, part 4 Chinook Project visits Northern Labrador Media Review: Qimmit - A Clash of Two Truths IMHO: In Transition Index: Volume 12, The Fan Hitch Navigating This Site Index of articles by subject Index of back issues by volume number Search The Fan Hitch Articles to download and print Ordering Ken MacRury's Thesis Our comprehensive list of resources Talk to The Fan Hitch The Fan Hitch home page ISDI home page
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Foreground: Dr. Marti Hopson and Melissa McGrath. Background: Aimee Elson, Dr. Becky Jackson, Lindsay Rigoli, Katie Lee, Billy MacDonald, Dr. Nicole Gallant. Photo: Chinook Project Chinook Project visits Northern Labrador by Marti Hopson, Veterinary Coordinator Natuashish is a small (pop. approx. 700), very remote town in the Atlantic Canada province of Newfoundland and Labrador (see map). From May 27 to June 1, the town played host to a team from the Chinook Project from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC). Three faculty members from the University of Prince Edward Island (PEI) coordinate this project, which has sent veterinarians, technicians and veterinary students into the Canadian North each year since 2006. The project aims to provide veterinary care to dogs and other companion animals in remote areas of the country. The main goal of the project is to reduce overpopulation of dogs, by spaying and neutering, in areas where stray and roaming dogs can be a problem. We also vaccinate the dogs against distemper, parvovirus and rabies and treat them to remove roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms. These measures should increase the health of the animals, as well as decreasing potential public health problems. In Natuashish there are many stray dogs. Mr. Ruben Pillay, a resident of Natuashish, helped organize our trip, and many other community members were also helpful in providing food and lodging to the AVC team. We are grateful to the Mushuau Innu Band Council and to the community in general for their support. Upon arriving in Natuashish (by small plane, the only access), our team of three veterinarians (two from PEI and one from Goose Bay, Labrador), one veterinary technician and four veterinary students set up a mobile clinic in the local fire hall. Working from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m and then cleaning and sterilizing instruments until midnight or later, this clinic was able to accommodate many surgical patients each day, and we were able to spay and neuter over 80 patients, as well as vaccinate and deworm several more. We also performed a limb amputation on a dog that had broken her leg two weeks before our arrival. Porcupine quill removal and other minor procedures were performed as well. Melissa McGrath (l) and Aimee Elson (r) perform a castration. Photo: Chinook Project Many of the dogs altered were stray animals who recovered quickly from the surgery and were seen the next day lining up at the doors of the fire hall, perhaps because there were often hand outs of a few dog treats. This trip was our first visit to Labrador and the most successful of the five years of the project - doubling the number of spays and neuters done in past years. If financial support permits, the Chinook Project will return to Natuashish in 2011, and hopefully visit some of the other coastal towns of Northern Labrador as well. |